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Lewis Hamilton unimpressed by F1's lack of 'silverware'

"We just need to make better trophies," says world champion

Lewis Hamilton was left unimpressed by the trophy he received for winning last year's British GP
Image: Lewis Hamilton was left bemused by the "£10" trophy he received for winning last year's British GP

Lewis Hamilton has urged F1 to improve the look of its trophies after labelling the current designs "terrible".

After winning last year's British Grand Prix, the Mercedes driver complained on the podium about the title sponsor-inspired design: "Where's the gold trophy?" Hamilton remarked in reference to the more famous prize that has traditional been awarded to Silverstone race winners. "This one is falling apart." He later joked that the new trophy "must have cost £10".

Ahead of his return to Silverstone for his home race this weekend, Hamilton has renewed his calls for more befitting designs for F1, revealing he had even taken his complaints to Bernie Ecclestone.

"We just need to make better trophies - it's shocking how bad the trophies are," the world champion was quoted as saying by The Daily Telegraph. "The trophies are as good as... at go kart level, it was really bad.

"Formula Renault was just little boxes with a car in the middle. Formula Three was good, and at the beginning of my Formula 1 career, the trophies were really good. But now they are just terrible, man. They are so bad. I told Bernie and he got the trophy guy in the room and I just said, 'you know'."

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Sky F1's Ted Kravitz got up close and personal with Mercedes' wooden winner's trophy in Austria...

Hamilton, who was eventually presented with the British GP's golden winner's trophy in the post-race press conference, has seen his trophy cabinet swell in the last 18 months, with 15 race wins alone. Indeed, the Briton has finished on the podium in each of the last 15 races, four short of Michael Schumacher's all-time record.

"That is the only trophy there is for Silverstone," Hamilton added. "Last year, they gave me this plastic thing and I'm like, 'This is not the trophy, it's like a GP2 trophy, not the Formula 1 trophy.'

More from British Gp 2015

"The gold one is really special. It would be great if each country had a real trophy like that, with character that grew over the years because of the history. I don't know why they don't make them the same any more."

So, does Lewis have a point that F1's trophies are not up to scratch? Take a look at some of the designs from 2015 so far and make up your own mind…

Lewis with his race winner's spoils from China
Image: Lewis with his race winner's spoils from China
The trophies in Austria were predominantly made out of locally-sourced wood
Image: The trophies in Austria were predominantly made out of locally-sourced wood
Another track design for the blue-riband Monaco GP trophies
Image: Another track design for the blue-riband Monaco GP trophies
The Austrian GP winner's trophy remains one of the more familiar during the season
Image: The Australian GP winner's trophy remains one of the more familiar during the season

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